Love Is
by xXGagaGirlXx
Summary: Love is… “When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.” A short collection of drabbles based on the list, 'Love according to children.' Serious warnings of fluff!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I've decided to publish this as a new series of drabbles, all the inspiration coming from a wonderful list I read called 'Love according to children'. Some of the answers on it were a little bit too cute to pass up writing about, especially if it included our Bohemians in the mix. As always, nothing belongs to me, all reads and reviews are appreciated and on with the show…**

**Peace x**

_Love is… "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."_

Scaramouche squirmed, wriggling her toes and struggling against her boyfriends grip as he clasped her feet in his hands and tickled them with a low chuckle. "Hold still, will you? How am I supposed to do this if you won't sit still?" he watched her fondly as a shrill squeal of laughter escaped her open mouth.

"St-st-stop!" she gasped for breath, struggling to speak between her peels of laughter, kicking her feet ferociously at him but all the same, wishing he'd carry on.

"Fine!" Galileo drew his hands away from her and let her flailing legs come to rest on the knees of his crossed legs. He leant forwards into Scaramouche, who had her knees bent up to her chest and kissed her on the nose, feeling her panting as she still struggled to catch her breath from the laughter. "Are you going to stop wiggling or shall I make you do this yourself?" he asked her, taking his hand to the side and picking up a small vibrant red bottle.

Scaramouche stretched her mouth into a wide teeth bearing smile.

"I'll behave Gazza Fizza; I promise!" she spoke his nickname in staccato beats, enunciating each syllable.

He shook the bottle and unscrewed the lid, withdrawing a small application brush, oozing with pillar-box red nail varnish. Taking her left foot in his right hand he carefully began painting her toenails, taking special care not to get the polish on her skin.

She watched him as he concentrated, his bottom lip folding into his mouth and his teeth clamped down on it as he stared down at his steadily moving hand. She knew she was lucky, not only was assisting your girlfriend in painting her nails emasculating, it was also rare to find anyone who didn't have some disgust when it came to feet. She beamed down at him.

He felt her watching him and looked up. "What?"

"Can I paint your nails?"

"No." he looked back down and examined her red toenails proudly. "Next foot!"

"Please Galileo?"

The usual flutter of butterflies swept across him as she said his name. There was just something about the way it sounded when she said it that made it impossible to deny her of anything.

"Fine… as long as I get to pick the colour."

"I love you," she beamed, moving her left foot to one side and replacing it with her right.


	2. Chapter 2

_Love is… "When my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."_

Jovi padded her way carefully across the floor of the kitchen, wincing as the icy cold tiles bit at her bare feet. Lengthening her strides she hopped up onto the work surface, pushing her auburn hair from her face and smiling across at Aretha, who bid her good morning over the whistling sound of the kettle, slowly boiling on the stove.

Jovi snatched a dishcloth up and reached across to the rusting sink, picking up two chipped mugs and drying them, before sliding them across the counter in the direction of the kettle. Aretha caught them with a grin, spooning one teaspoon of coffee into one and two into the other.

"Not too strong!" Jovi interjected, to which Aretha smiled and held the cup at an angle as proof.

"I know, I know." She hummed softly as she searched for the sugar bowl. It was the sort of tuneless and flat hum that Jovi often referred to as 'Mum singing'; she'd said it was reminded her of the way her mother used to sing under her breath when she cleaned. It irritated her immensely when anyone else did it, but she'd always made an exception for Aretha.

"You're 'Mum singing'," Jovi pointed out affectionately. "I always know you're happy when I hear you doing that."

Aretha beamed back at her, "I am happy." She confirmed, spooning sugar into Jovi's mug.

"Lots of sugar!" Jovi insisted, to which Aretha only rolled her eyes.

"When have I ever skimped on sugar when I make your coffee?"

Jovi smiled sheepishly and hopped down from the worktop, braving the cold floor and pacing over to where Aretha stood, wrapping her arms around her from behind and resting her head on her back.

Aretha reached across to the stove and turned it off as the kettle screamed and poured the scolding water into the two mugs.

"Make sure it's really milky."

Aretha turned around and stood on tip-toe, pecking Jovi on the forehead before shooing her away. "Go and sit down, I'll bring it to you." As she picked the two mugs up she took a sip of Jovi's, grimacing at the sweet taste of three spoonfuls of sugar.

"That's mine!" Jovi frowned, "Gimme!"

"I was just checking it tasted right for you," Aretha told her, placing the mug on the table next to where Jovi sat. "Don't try drinking it yet, it's hot."

"Oh…" Jovi felt her stomach tingle at the sentiment, she grinned up at the mothering woman who hadn't seemed to notice how much the gesture had touched Jovi. "I love you 'Retha."

Aretha's lips twitched, "Yeah, well… don't want you to burn yourself…" she trailed off.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Motley Crewe and Blink belong to Werepuppy Black and she kindly gave me permission to use them in this drabble. For that reason, this chapter is written especially for her XD Thank you!  
Peace x**

_Love is… "What makes you smile when you're tired."_

"You clingy irritating… why don't you just… well if you'd bothered…" the slightly distorted sound of Scaramouche's angry yells echoed through the bedroom wall, followed by the sound of what could have been mistaken for a herd of elephants, but was in fact a tiny pair of combat boots stomping around in a sulk.

It was three in the morning and the argument had been going strong for at least an hour now. The worst of it was that it didn't seem to be dying down.

Folding her thin pillow around her head and clamping her hands down so that it covered her ears tightly, Motley gave a loud groan. "Shut up, shut up, shut UP!" though she was now shouting it would have been impossible for Galileo and Scaramouche to hear her pleas as they had just began screaming at each other in unison.

Motley sat up in frustration, huffing and pulling the hood of her jumper over her bed-messed hair. Her face crumpled in frustration, she hadn't slept for a long while due to a wild night with Sid the previous evening and now that she finally had a chance to rest her head, this was happening.

"You incompetent, stupid, annoying…"  
"You miserable, unsatisfied, moaning…"

Scaramouche and Galileo's voices overlapped each other, the volume of them both making Motley question exactly why they ever used microphones.

"SHUT. THE FUCK. UP!" Motley stood up and threw herself at the wall, pounding it with her fists, to no effect. Collapsing back into her bed with an irritated sob she pulled her knees up to her chest, her eyelids heavy as she stared blankly in front of her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't even block the sound out mentally.

"Mot?" Blink poked his head around the door, a mug of steaming tea clasped in his hand.

Mot looked up, her tired eyes taking a moment to adjust to the figure stood in the darkness.

"Are you okay? I heard you shouting." He gave a concerned frown and passed the mug to his girlfriend, crouching down beside her and wrapping an arm around her waist. She took the mug gratefully in two hands and collapsed onto his shoulder.

"Why won't they shut up?" she murmured. "So tired… just need sleep…"

Blink chewed his fingernails in thought, "Want me to go and have a word with them?" Mot gave a small nod.

Blink disappeared, leaving Mot to cradle her mug of tea, taking tiny sips as she listened carefully to the sounds of shouting dying down. Finally, everyone was quiet!

A loud bang made her jump, spilling her tea slightly on the blankets. It was followed by the sound of Scaramouche and Galileo's voices once again, if possible even louder than they had been before.

Blink reappeared looking downhearted.

"What happened?" Mot wiped the tea from her bare legs.

"Scaramouche threw a shoe at me. Thought it was best to just leave them to it."

Mot's expression broke into a wide sleepy grin as emitted a small chuckle. "Probably best, yeah."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Omfg. It finally happened. So excited that I actually used that acronym! That is all. XD**

_Love is… "When you kiss all the time, then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more."_

"You're such an exhibitionist," Aretha teased as Jovi bounded into their bedroom in just a pair of polka dot boy shorts and her arms wrapped across her naked chest. Her hair was dripping wet and looked even messier than usual- owing to the fact she'd just tried to rub it dry with a towel. "You could have worn your towel at least instead of streaking all the way through the Heartbreak."

Jovi stuck her tongue out in response, shaking her head like a dog and spraying Aretha with a surge of cold water. Kicking a pile of clothes aside she picked up a white baggy vest with her toes and lifted it up to her hands.

"Monkey feet!" Aretha cackled. She could never decide if she was fascinated or disgusted by the teen's overly long toes.

"Y'just jealous." Jovi's muffled voice noted as she slipped the vest over her head. Pulling her hair from the neckline and flipping it back she caught Aretha's gaze. She had a curious look in her eyes that Jovi recognised immediately. "Under no circumstances am I letting you brush my hair."

Aretha scrunched her nose in frustration, "Oh come on Jov', I'll be gentle, I promise."

"No way." Jovi protested, leaping up into her hammock and peeking over the side.

Aretha contorted her face into a sulky expression, pushing her bottom lip outwards into an evident pout. "You know how much I love playing with your hair… don't you love me?"

Jovi huffed loudly, "Tha' s'not fair 'Retha. You can't use that line on me…"

"It's fine." Aretha sniffed, picking up her wide toothed brush. "I'll just have to occupy myself by brushing my own hair." She pulled the brush through her short crop a few times and let her arm flop down at her side. "Oh… I'm done already…"

Jovi stepped out of her hammock and stomped towards Aretha, throwing herself down into a cross legged position with force. "FINE!"

Aretha grinned triumphantly as she knelt behind the stroppy red-head, tenderly taking a section of her curls in one hand and gliding the comb carefully between them, repeating it again with another section, then another. It took all of fifteen minutes until she was entirely done, but Jovi hadn't flinched or complained once.

"You're all done treacle." Aretha announced, turning Jovi around to face her.

Jovi ran a hand through her damp hair with a smile, "Aw, thanks 'Retha! That didn't hurt one bit. You really are gentle." She leant forwards to kiss her friend on the cheek.

Aretha turned quickly in surprise, her lips brushing with Jovi's, her stomach flipping as they did so. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…" Aretha was silenced as Jovi pressed her lips firmly against hers, properly this time.

The hairs on Jovi's arms stood on end as she kissed hungrily at the woman she had lusted after for so long, she felt Aretha's hands snake up into her hair and grasp at the back of her head, pulling her in for a deeper more meaningful kiss. She breathed quickly through her nose, her heart pounding ten to the dozen beneath her white vest.

Aretha rested her forehead against Jovi's, opening her own eyes to catch a glimpse of her reaction. They both smiled widely as they kissed, making contact difficult. Aretha pulled away and they locked their gaze, both laughing nervously- only managing to withstand the pause for a few moments before kissing passionately at each other again, their tongues dancing madly against each others.

They both collapsed against Aretha's mattress, their fingers interlocked and their chests rising and falling rapidly as they caught their breath.

"Well that was unexpected." Aretha panted.

"Good though." Jovi insisted.

"Makes you wonder why we haven't done it before, really."

Jovi clung tightly to Aretha's hand and sighed happily; rolling over onto Aretha's chest she looked down at her, nuzzling into her neck and kissing her once more. "Almost makes me want to brush my hair everyday."

Aretha snorted softly, shivering as the young girl traced her tongue across her collarbone. "Yeah right."

"Well, I did say _almost._"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sid is the property of MissLoaf91 who has very kindly given me permission to use her. This is dedicated to you love :) Thank you!  
Peace x**

_Love is… "When you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."_

Sid ruffled a hand through her crop of fluffy blonde hair and gave a small yawn. It was a reasonably uneventful and quiet day in the Heartbreak but she was feeling oddly satisfied. She dragged her boots along the dusty floor as she walked through a silent passageway, it was a rare thing for complete silence in the Heartbreak and she didn't like it, so the scuffing sound she made felt oddly comforting. Lost in her thoughts she didn't notice as Meat swung around a door way, taking Sid by surprise as she suddenly came face to face with her.

"Morning!" Meat's cheery voice greeted Sid. "Nice top chick!" she commented, sidling past her with a beaming smile and a skip in her step.

Sid had barely replied before Meat was out of sight again. She looked down at her top, a white t-shirt bearing the slogan 'I heart CRAP', a red graffiti love heart printed brightly across the left of her chest. Sid grinned down at her attire; she hadn't been all too sure what the others would think about the top, being as it could be taken in two ways. She of course wore it with the definition of 'crap' being something rubbish, as opposed to 'Computer Anodene Recorded Pop', though she quite liked the irony of it. A pleased grin spread across her face as she grasped the bottom of the shirt.

* * * * *

Meat picked up a handful of empty glasses that littered the bar and wiped a damp cloth underneath them, placing them back down again and moving further along with her cleaning. She sang to herself, shaking her hips as she scrubbed at a particularly stubborn Sambuca stain. "Bleedin' stuff, wouldn' be so bad if it didn' dry white…" she muttered under he breath.

A small cough made her look up. Sid walked in, sitting herself on one of the bar stools and sticking her chest out more than usual. "Alright." She smiled, shuffling awkwardly in her seat.

"Ay, not bad hen." She noticed that Sid wore the same top as she had the previous day. "I really do like that top, y'know." She pointed out again with a smile.

Sid gasped, "Oh this old thing?"

Meat smiled at the airiness of Sid's voice. "Yeah, I love it. You were wearing it yesterday weren't you? And the day before?"

"Was I?" Sid asked in an over exaggerated casual tone. "I could have been I suppose, yeah."

Meat bent down under the bar and took out two glasses, filling them both with a double shot of Jack Daniels. Holding one out to Sid she watched her with a sly smile, leaning across the bar she bit her bottom lip playfully, following it up with a teasing kiss. As she withdrew she took a swig of her Jack Daniels and wiped her lips with the back of her hand. "I love it, but I also love you without it."

Sid blushed and stared down at her feet. "Don't think I'll make a habit of going topless around the Heartbreak."

Meat winked at Sid with a wide grin, "Was worth a try!"


	6. Chapter 6

_Love is… "When your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."_

Scaramouche turned around to find Galileo on her heels, his face expressing distress and his voice coming out as what sounded less like words and more like a whimper. Motioning for him to leave her alone with a wave of her hand she stopped dead in her tracks, her face an image of rage as he bumped into the back of her.

"Galileo, will you just get off my back and leave me alone for one day?" Scaramouche requested through gritted teeth, "Honestly Gaz, you're like a fucking puppy- I think the others half expect me to run around mopping up your pee sometimes, seeing as you're that much of a whimpering Labrador."

Galileo took a step backwards, her words hitting him hard in the chest. He blinked sadly at her then turned on his heel, dragging his feet as he trailed away.

"That's right," Scaramouche called after him, "back to your basket with your tail between your legs."

She felt bad for saying it and she hadn't really meant it, but sometimes it felt as if she was being deprived from all of the independency that the Heartbreak Hotel offered.

* * * * *

"Gazza?" Scaramouche called gently into the kitchen, she had been informed by Cliff that he was hiding out in here. "Gazza are you in here?" she turned the corner to find him sat at the table, sipping from a glass of water.

As she walked in she watched his face change into an expression of glee, he hopped up though didn't approach her just yet. "Are you still mad?" he asked cautiously.

Scaramouche shook her head. "No… I'm sorry about earlier Gaz…"

Galileo stepped towards her quickly and embraced her, kissing tenderly at her lips. "I'm sorry for being such a puppy." He told her sincerely.

"Puppies aren't _all_ bad," Scaramouche informed him, "I mean, they can be cute…"

Galileo licked her cheek playfully. "Like that?"

Scaramouche wiped her face with her sleeve and frowned, "Well, no… that was a bit gross." She lurched forwards with a giggle and licked him across the tip of his nose. "Quite fun though!"


	7. Chapter 7

"_You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."_

* * * * *

_A seventeen year old Meatloaf gave a shrill shriek, kicking her legs manically and banging her fists on the muscled back of the nineteen year old Britney Spears. His large arms clung to her tightly as he held her over his shoulder in a fireman's lift, every so often he would pretend to be losing his grip, letting her fall to the side and clutching her back up again before she fell to the floor. The truth was that he'd never drop her; they both knew that, yet she couldn't help but give a scream of what felt like half excitement and half fright, every time he tricked her into thinking she was going to take a tumble._

_His long taught legs powered through the passageways of the Heartbreak Hotel, pushing past Bohemians as he raced towards his destination. Finally skidding to a half he bit playfully at Meat's thigh. "Stop screaming, people will think you're hot for the whole kidnapping thing." He teased, slipping into the empty bathroom._

'_Bathroom' was quite literally what it was, for a large metal tank of a bath was all that it contained, a long black pipe with a spout on the end directed towards it, collecting any rainwater from the surface and directing it straight to the Bohemian's washing source._

_Brit dangled his girlfriend over the icy water head first, the ends of her tussled hair dipping into the murky depths, she yelped- choking as her yelp turned into a giggle. Dipping her hand into the freezing tub she scooped up a handful of the water and splashed it towards Brit's bare back._

_With a yell he leapt forwards, "Cold!" he danced about, turning so that he faced the bath now and placing Meat so that she sat up on the edge. They were face to face now and both laughing. He pushed her hair from her face and grinned, showing every one of his white teeth._

"_I love you." He told her sincerely, telling her for the first time but not faltering. He felt her tense body relax as she leant forwards and rested her head on the dark skin of his chest. He stroked a thumb across her cheek._

"_I love you too." She insisted, her Scottish accent a little less brash than usual._

Meat tipped her bottle of Sambuca up and estimated a shot. Knocking it back she sighed, her elbows rested on the bar in front of her and the awful silence that came from having no other Bohemian's around forcing her into her own thoughts. Closing her eyes she rubbed at them fiercely with her calloused hands and let her face fall forwards, her forehead coming into contact with the cold wooden bar.

_The two sat hand in hand on the edge of the platform, their legs dangling over onto the tracks, her head resting on his shoulder and his arm draped around her, his fingers casually twisting a strand of her hair around as they stared ahead, lost in their own thoughts and conversation. Britney Spears glanced down at an imaginary watch. _

"_The train's late." He noted, peering into the dark tunnel to their left. Meat chuckled and stroked a hand across his thigh, tracing figure eights with her fingertips across him. _

"_They should have a sign," Meat decided, "Saying how long it's been delayed for."_

_Brit turned to kiss the side of her head and smiled into her hair, "It's coming up to two hundred and fifty years now, I'm starting to think the problem is with the line and not the train."_

_Meat blinked across into the darkness, "I want to go down there." She told him. "You and Bob disappear down their all the time, I want to see what it's like."_

_Brit looked apprehensive, "But it's dark and dangerous, I don't want you to get hurt."_

_Meat pulled away from him and placed her hands firmly on her hips, "Come on Brit! I'm not scared of a little bit of dark. And besides, I have you to protect me from getting hurt."_

_Brit made a face, weighing out the pros and cons of taking her down there. "We can just go a little of the way in…" he decided, "Only if you agree that when I say so, you have to come back out again, don't pester me to take you any further."_

_Meat grinned and ran her tongue across her teeth. "I just want to spend some time with you in the dark, what's so bad about that?"_

_Brit hopped onto the tracks and lifted her down, taking her hand in his and leading her into the pitch black tunnel. "Don't let go of my hand, and don't go off the tracks." He instructed._

_They'd been walking for almost five minutes when Britney felt Meat's hand slip out of his, "Meat?" he called into the darkness, listening attentively for any sound of her footsteps, "Meat? Don't mess around, this isn't funny!" he pushed his hands out in front of him, hoping to clasp hold of her slender body but felt his fingers comb through the thin air to no success. "Meat?" his heart was starting to pound now, a slight panic creeping across his voice._

"_What?" Meat pounced on him from behind, making him gasp with shock as he spun around, grasping her tightly in his arms. "I didn't go anyway."_

_Brit gripped his hands on her shoulders, glad that it was too dark for her to see the worry etched onto his face, "You bleedin'…" he searched for a word, "Crazy Scot!" he stressed, groping for the back of her head and pulling her towards him into a kiss. "You scared me to death!"_

_Meat snorted, "Crazy Scot? Ouch." She paused for a moment and then cooed "Why?" slinking her hand back into his again, "I was only gone for a second."_

"_Yeah well, I worried that something might have happened to you… love you to much to let you disappear."_

_Meat stroked an index finger down the end of his nose and kissed him lightly. "I know that."_

"_Yeah, well- people forget."_

A small sad smile played on the corners of Meat's lips as she sat up sniffling nostalgically and pouring herself a double shot. Damn this silence- It was the first time in a while she'd been left to her own thoughts and they'd taken over her, especially after all this talk of 'love' around the Heartbreak.

"_No! You'll never take the dreamer while I'm alive!"_

_  
Meatloaf screamed, a haunting gurgle and her knees gave way. Falling forwards she buried her head into the ground, not wanting to look up and confirm what deep down she knew had just happened. The other screams and shouts of the Bohemians and police washed over her as if someone had placed their hands over her ears, she knew she had to look, had to speak to him, had to tell him… But she couldn't. She couldn't move. What if he'd forgotten? Why hadn't she reminded him today? She hugged her knees tightly beneath her, ignoring the hands that now gripped hold of her arms to pull her up. Closing her eyes tightly she let whoever was lifting her do their work, just as long as she didn't have to see him._

"Meat?" Charlotte and Madonna's hands clasped around her arms as they pulled her upwards.

"S'no good Mads, I think she's passed out."

"No wonder, that Sambuca bottle was full half an hour ago when I stocked the bar."

Meat opened her eyes, not realising that she'd been clenching them painfully shut. She looked up at the concerned faces of Madonna and Charlotte and frowned.

"I loved Brit, you know." She corrected herself, "Love."

"Of course," Charlotte told her gently, "We know that."

"Yeah well… People forget, so you have to tell them a lot."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: And now our little series comes to an end. Fini. Drax belongs to Werepuppy Black, you should totally check out her story 'Rock the Tardis' if you want to learn some more about him. I'm using him with her kind permission, so many thanks :)**

**Thanks for sticking it out guys.  
Love and peace x**

_Love is… "Home."_

Drax blew a shoot of air upwards into the thick brown hair that hung stubbornly in front of his eyes. Sat placidly in a corner he propped his notebook on one raised knee, observing the scene before him and every so often glancing back at the empty page. He scribbled two words thoughtfully and then stopped, unable to finish his own musings.

"Love is…"

What was the definition of love? He watched the people around him, talking amongst each other, drinking, laughing, kissing- two girls, one evidently younger than the other sat curled around each other, sharing a vodka bottle between them and whispering into each others ears with sly smiles. But that wasn't love was it? Perhaps lust, but not love… Not to him anyway, but maybe to them?

He tilted his head to one side, tapping his pencil on his chin, so many differences between people's concept of love and all he wanted to write about was his own. He looked down at his feet as an older man, Pop, walked past him, eagerly cradling a historical artefact that someone had brought home for him. Was that love to that old man? After all, he had no partner.

A group of four friends sat close by, all giggling and play fighting with each other, the two girls seemed to be teasing the two boys about something, Drax couldn't quite hear what but every so often he heard someone throw out an insult, yet it was in a tone that suggested it wasn't being used in a hurtful way. One of the girls collapsed into the others knee and the other pinched her playfully. Even Drax had to agree that friends were a very big part of love, even though he had never had a real one.

It had to be said that even though he was sitting alone, there was a comfortable atmosphere in the room. Nobody seemed to be judging anyone and even though small fights occasionally broke out, seconds later the culprits were laughing and apologising. It gave Drax on odd reassuring feeling, a feeling of safety.

Meat caught his eye from across the room and winked, he smiled back at her as she mouthed the words, "Are you okay?" across at him. He nodded quickly and flashed her one more reassuring smile before returning to his notebook. Mothers- they were so, well… mothering!

"Love is… love is…" he muttered to himself, scanning his eyes around the room once more before feeling a warm feeling creep into his stomach and a smile play on his lips. Pencil at the ready he scribbled a single word, pushing his hair backwards to admire the short sentence.

'Love is home.'


End file.
